| abstract |
Disclosed is a process for separating 11-cyanoundecanoic acid, cyclohexanone and epsilon -caprolactam from a pyrolysis product obtained by pyrolyzing 1,1'-peroxydicyclohexylamine in the presence of steam at a temperature of 300 DEG to 1,000 DEG C. The pyrolysis product is first contacted with a mixture comprised of aqueous ammonia and at least one organic solvent selected from benzene, toluene and xylene, and the so prepared liquid is separated into the oily layer and the aqueous layer. On one hand, the oily layer is distilled to separate cyclohexanone therefrom. On the other hand, the aqueous layer is acidified to a pH of below 4.0 by adding thereto a mineral acid and maintained at a temperature of 40 DEG to 100 DEG C. to separate crude 11-cyanoundecanoic acid in molten form from the aqueous layer, and then, the separated crude molten 11-cyanoundecanoic acid is washed with hot water to extract epsilon -caprolactam therefrom. |